Highlights on the two itineraries include a visit to the Santa Maria Cathedral, the old city walls, palaces (Renaissance palatial architecture) with stories to tell, churches, convents and chapels, Baroque sculptures and paintings and a visit to the Farmers’ Market (Mercado de Abastos).

Tour 1 Santa María Cathedral & Bell Tower. Open for Repairs is the humerous catchphrase as the Cathedral is currently undergoing a serious renovation plan which actually makes for a more fascinating tour. Initial excavations show that Vitoria- Gasteiz has probably been around since the 8th century and the tour will show, by means of a series of models how the town has changed over the ages. The view from the Tower will enable you to see the almond shape of the Centro Histórico and some of the palaces and museums.

Tour 2 Centro Histórico (Old Town). Guided tour of the quaint and compact almendra (almond shaped city centre) taking in Machete Square, St Michaels Arches, City Walls, Palacio Escoriaza-Esquivel and the Palacio de Montehermoso and the Farmer’s Market to name just a few of the highlights.

Both tours will be available for conference delegates on Monday 11 March at 14.30

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

At the Welcome Reception (Monday 11th March 2019) conference delegates from around the world will be greeted and warmly welcomed by our Premium Sponsors and the IWINETC team and will be treated not only to a range of pintxos and wines from the region but also to traditional Euskedi music and dance.

The Artium Museum main lobby houses two stunning works of art: the Mural Céramico by Joan Miró and Llorens Artigas and the monumental sculpture A piece of Crystallised Sky (Un Pedazo de Cielo Cristalizado), by Javier Pérez – involving over 15,000 glass bulbs hanging like tear drops from the ceiling.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

Regarded as Australia’s foremost wine tourism expert, Robin Shaw has an extensive wine and tourism industry background that includes cellar door management, sales and marketing, membership management, strategic planning and experience development. She has worked for some of Australia’s leading brands and industry organisations, including Jacob’s Creek, South Australian Tourism Commission and Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, and is a current board member of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia and Adelaide Hills Tourism.

We are delighted to announce that Robin will be one of several keynotes speakers at the upcoming IWINETC 2019. She will be lending her experience and background to an important area of the marketing mix, namely place:

Win my Heart, Win my Wallet

Unlock the power of transformative wine tourism experiences and discover why Gen Y and Z are changing the way we create and market experiences.

Robin consults globally on wine tourism and her sharp industry insights and dynamic presenting style has led to her emergence as a highly regarded international public speaker. She has been the recipient of a prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship to study global wine tourism innovation, after which she developed a suite of industry resources including ‘The Australian Wine Tourism Toolkit’ and the innovative Wine Tourism Workshop Program which she successfully delivered throughout Australia, South Africa and Chile. In 2018 she successfully developed and delivered the program for Australia’s inaugural Wine Industry Impact Conference and developed content for Wine Australia’s Growing Wine Tourism Program. She also hosts wine tourism study tours for industry professionals to locations around the world that epitomise best practice and service excellence.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

We are thrilled to announce that Paul Richer Senior Partner at Genesys Digital Transformation will be joining us one of keynote speakers for 2019! Paul will be delivering a talk titled: AI, IOT and All That – A Future Perspective on Tomorrow’s Wine Tourism Technology – Technology is moving fast. New buzzwords and acronyms such as AI and IOT are creeping into our everyday language. The technologies that sit behind the buzzwords are creeping into our everyday lives. How are technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Of Things going to impinge on wine tourism? Will they have a major impact or no impact at all? In this session, you will hear a future perspective on tomorrow’s technology and how it might impact on wine tourism.

Paul is founding partner of Genesys Digital Transformation, the realisation of his vision for a management consultancy offering the highest professional standards to specifically address the requirement for advice and project services relating to technology in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

As a result of his consultancy work for many travel, tourism and hospitality organisations, Paul has built an unrivalled depth of experience of digital travel strategies and technologies.

Paul’s background is as a consultancy professional. After qualifying with a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Cranfield School of Management, he joined Finite Group plc, a blue-chip strategic IT consultancy operating in the automotive, finance and travel industries. Paul rose to the position of Director heading-up Finite’s consultancy division, leading some of the consultancy’s largest projects for household-name, blue-chip organisations. He left Finite to found Genesys.

Paul has appeared on television and radio where his expert views on digital travel have been sought. He is regularly quoted in the press and chairs many of the industry’s digital and technology related conferences.

Most recently, he has launched a new business, Sygma Global, combining website development and online marketing services into a single package with regular monthly payments in the style of a mobile phone contract.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Travel & Tourism and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Paul lives in London with his wife and three children. His leisure interests include gliding, flying and restoring classic cars.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

We’re thrilled to announce Felicity Carter, editor -in-chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, the world’s only global, English language wine business magazine as our second confirmed keynote speaker at IWINETC, 12 & 13 March 2019.

Felicity is a regular speaker at international wine events from ProWein to Wine2Wine, and she has spoken on wine tourism at a number of international conferences, including in Hungary, South Africa and Portugal. A wine judge, Felicity has judged in Portugal, Germany, Bordeaux, Brussels and Georgia, and in 2015 formed part of the ‘empowerment of women in wine’ panel for Wines of Argentina. She is an international judge of the Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year, and the China Wine List of the Year, and has been the international judge of the nationally televised German Wine Queen finals.

Felicity will draw on her long experience in journalism and wine tourism and will be delivering a talk relevant to all business and institutions involved in the branding, marketing and commercialisation of wine and culinary tourism in a talk titled The importance of Media in Wine Tourism – If you build it they will come – if they know about it. A key plank in any tourism marketing strategy has to be dealing with media, whether that’s traditional print and broadcast media, or influencers on social media. Felicity Carter will discuss with case studies low- to no-cost ways to get media attention, from crafting a perfect pitch through to leveraging media relationships.

IWINETC conference talk programme stretches across two days covering five topical content themes (Research, Professional Development, Branding and Marketing, Grape Escape Destinations and Networking) all aimed at inspiring and educating delegates with sessions that tangibly add value to their business life and personal development.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

We are thrilled to announce that Sarah Jane Evans MW, an award-winning wine writer with a long-standing interest in the wines of Spain will be joining us as the first of several exciting keynote speakers lined up for the #IWINETC 2019 in the Basque Country from 12 to 13 March!

Sarah Jane will be blending an exceptional tasting of wines from the Rioja Alavesa region and Txakolí from Arabako Txakolina (Álava), Getariako Txakolina (Getaria) and Bizkaiko Txakolina (Bilbao) – a fascinating masterclass not to be missed by IWINETC conference delegates. Winemakers from the selected wineries will be on hand for attendees to meet.

In recognition of her work in Spain Sarah Jane is a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino, a Dama de Albariño and a Dama de Solear, and has received awards from the Ribeiro DO, and the Catalan Association of Sommeliers.

Sarah Jane became a Master of Wine in 2006. Her dissertation was on Sherry, and the Almacenista producers in the region. She’s a certified Sherry Educator, and has been a tutor on the Cava Academy. Her latest book is The Wines of Northern Spain (Infinite Ideas Classic Wine Library), and she is now researching The Wines of Mediterranean and Southern Spain.

Sarah Jane is Co-Chairman of the world’s largest wine competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards, and also of the Decanter Asia Wine Awards. She divides the rest of her time between contributing to leading wine magazines and reference books, speaking at conferences, consulting and judging wines internationally.

The full programme of around 25 sessions that form next year’s Conference Programme cover five topical content themes all aimed at inspiring and educating on the latest industry issues and hot topics so that delegates leave motivated to apply learnings to their own work place.

Anthony Swift, IWINETC Director, comments: “We’re delighted to announce our first keynote speaker for IWINETC 2019. Sarah Jane led a Cava tasting at IWINETC Catalunya 2016with a selection of gold medal winners from the annual wine competition 50 Great Cavas of the same year and the attendee feedback was tremendous. When we confirmed the Basque Country as the host for IWINETC 2019 we immediately got hold of Sarah Jane to lead the Masterclass of Wines of Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí. Sarah Jane will deliver an exceptional tasting providing a visual tour of each winery to inspire people to visit each of them be it for their architecture, facilities for families or purely for the quality of the wine.”

Don’t miss our world-class Conference Programme, Exhibition area and Workshop for the best education, best business and best networking for the wine and culinary tourism industry.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

First point to clarify is that Txakolí (pronounced CHACK-oh-lee) is not a grape variety nor is it a wine region in Spain. Txakolí can be defined as an diverse Atlantic wine style produced in the Spain’s Basque country mostly produced using the following, tongue – twisting grape varieties: Izkiriota (Gros Manseng), Izkiriota Ttippia (Petit Manseng), Hondarribi Zuri (Handarribi Beltza) and Hondarribi Zuri Zarratia (Petit Crbu). Txakolí has 3 Designations of Origen: Txakoli de Getaria (located close to the coastal town of San Sebastian), Txakolí de Bizkaia (north west close to the Basque capital of Bilbao) and Txakolí de Álava (furthest inland of the 3 DOs and closest to the venue for IWNETC 2019 – Álava’s capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz).

Txakolí, a light, refreshing, zesty, often lightly carbonated white wine is difficult to find outside the Basque Country as the locals consume almost the total annual production. Vines are grown on slopes and terraces with most affording a sea view of the Bay of Biscay. Vines on lower and flatter areas are trained high on pergolas.

A visit to a Txakolí winery blends well with tourism to museums, medieval towns and villages steeped in history, prehistoric remains such as dolmens, spa centres, city tours of Álava, Bilbao and San Sebastian and hikes in the hills and dales of the coastal hinterland.

Conference delegates attending the upcoming International Wine Tourism Conference, Exhibition and Workshop should not pass up on the Grand Tasting of Txakoli wines scheduled in the afternoon of day 1 of the 2-day conference progamme of talks and on one of the post conference tours to the nearby Txakolí of Álava DO where still light fresh wines are trending.

A fourth DO can be found in the southern part of Álava defined as the Rioja Alavesa wine region which will also be on the must see, must taste itinerary of tours for conference delegates.

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

Stand on top of the rocky mass of the Sierra Cantabria and gaze below and beyond and you will admire a sea of vineyards rooted in unique light coloured soil in terraces and ravines stretching out to the River Ebro, Spain’s longest river. Scattered across the panorama you will also see medieval villages, historic stately mansions and impressive wineries. This is Rioja Alavesa – a wine tourism destination which perfectly blends nature, gastronomy, tradition, architecture and wine.

Rioja Alavesa is an incredible destination for the wine lover and traveller. Wineries are varied ranging from small family boutique wineries with historic underground cellars to large architectural gems designed by world famous architects such as Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava or Phillipe Maziéres.

Between wineries there are medieval villages such as Saliníllas de Buradón or Labraza steeped in history and tradition, prehistoric dolmens and viewpoints set among the vineyard estates of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano and Viura

At lunch time do as the hospitable locals do and take a break at one ‘o clock or so and have a few mini-wines (ir de potes) and pintxos (tapas) to soak up the best atmosphere in the wine bars and then head to either a winery or restaurant to savour traditional Rioja Alavesa cuisine (Rioja-style potatoes, lamb chops cutlets grilled over vine shoots, veal cheeks in red wine or white beans) perfectly matched with one of the many quality crianza, reserve or grand reserve wines of the region.

Got the kids with you? Then a visit the Villa Lucía Wine Centre and Museum, to find out about the wine culture of the area and dive deeper into the Rioja Alavesa wine region through an audiovisual 4D: In a Dreamland or catch the Racimo train and track through the vineyards.

Staying overnight? There are several charming rural settings to stay in the Rioja Alavesa – sleep at a winery with a hotel, in a weirdly designed hotel in or in a hotel with a spa where you can pamper yourself with vinotherapy treatment.

Hopefully this has whet your appetite for some of the delights you can find in the Rioja Alavesa wine region in the Basque Country. Now, it’s over to you – all that remains is to pack your bags and start exploring for yourself!

The 2019 and 11th edition of the International Wine Tourism Conference will take place in the Basque Country at the Palacio de Congresos Europa, Vitoria-Gasteiz on the 12th and 13th March 2019. It’s the perfect setting to gain knowledge, improve business connections, network and discover Rioja Alavesa and Txakolí wines and the Basque Country as a grape escape destination.

Wine and Culinary Tourism Professionals can now register online to attend the International Wine Tourism Conference (IWINETC 2019), the leading global event for the wine and culinary tourism industry, taking place from the 12th – 13th March in the Green Capital Vitoria-Gasteiz in the province of Álava, Basque Country.

Attendees can register here and benefit from the early bird rate which ends 31 August 2018!

The 2019 edition of IWINETC has so much to offer and there are some exciting new enhancements too… all to be revealed soon! As well as networking face-to-face with over 300 wine and culinary tourism professionals from across the world, the IWINETC conference programme will be bursting with inspiration and ideas to help attendees enhance their career and transform their businesses.

Call for Speakers

Talk proposals for the International Wine Tourism Conference 2019 should include a title and short abstract outlining the main aspects of the presentation and its relevance to the field of wine and/or culinary tourism. Submit a talk proposal here

Exhibit at IWINETC & Show your grape escape destination to the World

For IWINETC 2019 there will an exhibition area for conference delegates to discover grape escape destination and wines from around the world. Participating as an exhibitor will ensure reaching 300+ delegates expected to attend as well as connecting with tour operators and travel agents from around the world. Exhibitor info here>>

Invited Buyer applications are open

The tailored programmes offered to agents earlier this year in Hungary received high praise for their focus on buyer’s needs and encouraged quality appointments with exhibitors and Workshop participants. For 2019, these programmes will offer buyers even more flexibility on their attendance and key education and networking opportunities relevant to their role and business.

Join the IWINETC network

Sponsors & Supporters

International Wine Tourism Conference

Founded in Spain in 2009, the International Wine Tourism Conference has now accommodated over 700 wine tourism professionals in 45 different countries throughout the world.

Though opportunities for international networking, professional development, and world class industry information you will find that our conferences and workshops offer unique ways to discover grape escape destinations around the world.

IWINETC is the destination for those involved in wine, gastronomy and tourism. So come along and share your point of view and gain from the experience of others.